Holocaust expert to give lecture at Temple El Emeth in Liberty

Staff report

LIBERTY

The Jewish Community Relations Council will co-sponsor a lecture featuring Union College history professor Dr. Stephen Berk, an expert in the Holocaust, Jewish Studies and Israel, at 7 p.m. May 8 at Temple El Emeth, 3970 Logan Way.

The free program, which is offered as part of the community’s 2012 Holocaust commemoration activities, is co-sponsored by Henry and Jerry Kinast, the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, B’nai B’rith Aaron Grossman Lodge, The Frances and Lillian Schermer Charitable Trust, the Youngstown Zionist of ZOA, El Emeth and PNC Institutional Investments.

Dr. Berk served as the chairman of Union College’s history department, director of the program in Russian and Eastern European Studies, and faculty adviser to the campus’ Jewish student organization. He is the author of “Year in Crisis, Year of Hope: Russian Jewry and the Pogroms of 1881-1882,” and is working on his new book, “Our People Are Your People: American Jewry and the Struggle for Civil Rights 1954-1964.” He has also written numerous articles on the Holocaust and is a frequent lecturer throughout North America and Europe. Dr. Berk is the recipient of the Holocaust Memorial Award from the Holocaust Survivors and Friends Education Center and has been designated by the Jewish Educational Resources of New York as an Israel Hero.

Dr. Berk’s lecture will focus on rescuers and righteous Gentiles, in keeping with this year’s national theme as set by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Choosing to Act: Stories of Rescue.”

For information on the events, contact JCRC at 330-746-3251.